Monday, December 27, 2010

MTA budget bloat

From the Daily News:

Infighting and faulty oversight has pushed the MTA's big-ticket megaprojects nearly $2 billion over budget and up to five years behind schedule, a damning new report says.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's extension of the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal may not be completed until April 2018, five years late, the report from MTA Inspector Barry Kluger found.

The LIRR link, the Second Ave. subway and the Fulton Transit Center projects, are a combined $1.93 billion over budget.

"The failure to complete megaprojects on time and within budget has raised serious concerns...and indicates a need for more effective oversight," the report said.

Kluger's probers say managers bicker with consultants and the responsibilities of an outside engineering firm were left unclear. The first leg of the Second Ave. subway project is expected to be completed in 2017, about five years late.

The Fulton Transit Center is about two years behind schedule and is slated for a 2014 finish.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why do we need a LIRR link to Grand Central, there is already a link to Penn Station - let get the commuter tax back turned on again - it will help minimize the overcrowding of infrastructure by these suburban commuters.

Anonymous said...

Raise taxes in LI or put in the commuter tax.

Not one dollar of NYC money should go to that project. Its of 100% benefit to LI residents and zero to us. Let them pay for it.